India will issue at least 240 billion rupees ($3.3 billion) in sovereign green bonds as the country marks a shift towards a low-carbon economy, according to officials with knowledge of the matter.

The debut sale may take place in the first half of the fiscal year that starts on April 1, and a decision to sell more green debt will depend on the response to the initial issuance, the people said, requesting not to be identified as the information is private, said.

A finance ministry spokesman was not immediately available for a comment.

The South Asian country’s maiden foray into the green bond space comes as it plans to fund renewable energy projects that will help meet its goal of net-zero emissions by 2070.

The government is expecting lower yields on green bonds, as otherwise it sees little purpose in issuing them, the officials said. The yield on the 10-year sovereign bond closed at 6.85% on Monday.

The planned issuance comes amid a global boom in sustainable investments. India is the world’s third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and plans to more than quadruple its renewable power generation capacity by 2030.

Indian renewable energy companies raised debt worth 17.6 billion rupees in February, the most in nearly a year, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

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Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 14 series in or around September and now a new report suggests that only the iPhone 14 Pro models will have the “A16” chip, while the standard iPhone 14 models will retain the A15 Bionic chip from the iPhone 13.

According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the 6.1-inch iPhone 14 Pro and the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max will get the A16 chip, while the 6.1-inch iPhone 14 and the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Max will retain the same A15 chip from the iPhone 13 series, reports MacRumors.

Kuo believes all models will have 6GB of memory, the Pro models will use LPDDR5 and the non-Pro will use LPDDR 4X.

The upcoming iPhone 14 Pro models will feature both hole-punch and pill-shaped cutouts near the top of the display. The hole is believed to be for the Face ID dot projector, while the pill-shaped cutout will supposedly house the front camera as well as Face ID infrared camera at a minimum.

The Pro models would come with a big camera upgrade.

Current Pro iPhones ship with a 12MP camera on board. However, iPhone 14 Pro models will feature a 48MP camera.

Apple has reportedly advised major US carriers to prepare for the launch of eSIM-only smartphones by September this year.

It is possible that Apple might remove the physical SIM card slot starting with some iPhone 14 models, rather than some iPhone 15 models as originally rumoured.

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The Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), a unit of the CIL, has crossed 157 million tonne (MT) in coal production in the financial year of 2021-22, to become the leading coal producing company in the country, a release said.

On March 12, 2022, the company produced 7.62 lakh tonne of dry fuel which is the highest in a day during the current financial year reaching 157.7 MT with a growth of around 16 per cent over the last financial year, the company release said.

Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the company, OP Singh congratulated all officers, staff, employees of contracted companies and other stakeholders for their contribution in making MCL the leading coal producing company in the country.

MCL has to play a bigger role in ensuring energy security to the nation, said the CMD in his congratulatory message to all the employees.

Surpassing all previous records, MCL has despatched over 166 MT dry fuel to the consumers, registering 22 per cent growth over a previous financial year while it has also removed 195 MCuM (million cubic meters) of over burden registering 19 per cent growth over the last financial year, the release added.

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There are risks in crypto-assets and aviation. And the government opted for the less risky path. Uddalok Bhattacharya sums up

K P Krishnan: Given the characteristics of crypto-assets, regulators ought to build capacity in their technological and economic aspects. Read it here

Mahesh Vyas: The announcement on repealing the farm laws did not make any material difference to improving rural consumer sentiment.

Read it here

Indrajit Gupta: The real challenge for Akasa will be to match IndiGo’s cost structure, which is the benchmark across the industry on efficiency and scale. Read it here

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Apple is reportedly working on a charger that can power multiple devices, an iPhone, AirPods, and Watch simultaneously.

In the latest edition of ‘Power On’ newsletter Mark Gurman revealed some interesting information about the company’s future wireless charging technology, reports MacRumors.

He writes, “I also believe Apple is working on short and long-distance wireless charging devices and that it imagines a future where all of Apple’s major devices can charge each other. Imagine an iPad charging an iPhone and then that iPhone charging AirPods or an Apple Watch.”

He further added that Apple is looking for both short and long distance wireless charging, which is quite a bit more advanced than its current induction charging based offerings.

“Imagine an iPad charging an iPhone and then that iPhone charging AirPods or an Apple Watch,” adds Gurman.

Currently, the iPhone maker sells the MagSafe Duo wireless charger that charges both the iPhone and Apple Watch/AirPods at the same time.

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Twitter’s new CEO Parag Agrawal hopes to extend the social networking site’s reach under his tenure while making continued progress while providing exciting opportunities in challenging times.

“I’m grateful for the service that you built, the culture, soul, and purpose you fostered among us and for leading the company through really significant challenges,” Parag posted on Twitter thanking Jack Dorsey.

“The world is watching us right now, even more than they have before. Lots of people are going to have lots of different views about today’s news. It is because they care about Twitter and our future, and it’s a signal that the work we do matte. Let’s show the world Twitter’s full potential,” he further added.

Parag expressed his gratitude towards Jack Dorsey for his mentorship and friendship.

“The world is watching us right now, even more than they have before. Lots of People are going to have lots of different views and opinions about today’s news. It is because they care about Twitter and future, and it’s a signal that the wire we do here mater. Let’s show the world Twitter’s full potential,” he further started.

Parag, aged 37, is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai where he did his Bachelors in Engineering in computer science. He moved to the US for further studies, with his doctorate coming from Stanford University based in California.

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Singapore’s civil aviation regulator plans to progressively extend Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) flights to more cities in India.

India and Singapore agreed to resume passenger flights from November 29 under an air transport bubble agreement. Air India, IndiGo, Singapore Airlines and Vistara have announced flights between the two countries.

According to this agreement 6 daily VTL flights would be operated from Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai to Singapore allowing vaccinated passengers quarantine free travel. Passengers travelling from other cities on a non-VTL flight have to undergo a 7-day quarantine at the declared place of accommodation in Singapore.

“Singapore takes a cautious and step-by-step approach in reviving air travel. For India, we have launched a VTL for travellers from Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai for a start. Pre-COVID, these three cities presented strong travel demand. We will extend the VTL to more cities in India progressively,” Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said in an email response.

“Regardless of their first point of departure, eligible travellers travelling on VTL flights and entering Singapore do not need to serve quarantine, as long as they meet the travel history requirement of the VTL,” CAAS added.

Singapore Airlines group is operating non-VTL flights to Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi and Trichy and these services will resume between November 30-December 2. Flights to Amritsar will start from January 31 and these would be operated by low cost arm Scoot.

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Australia will introduce legislation to make social media giants provide details of users who post defamatory comments, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday.

The government has been looking at the extent of the responsibility of platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, for defamatory material published on their sites and comes after the country’s highest court ruled that publishers can be held liable for public comments on online forums.

The ruling caused some news companies like CNN to deny Australians access to their Facebook pages.

“The online world should not be a wild west where bots and bigots and trolls and others are anonymously going around and can harm people,” Morrison said at a televised press briefing.

“That is not what can happen in the real world, and there is no case for it to be able to be happening in the digital world.” The new legislation will introduce a complaints mechanism, so that if somebody thinks they are being defamed, bullied or attacked on social media, they will be able to require the platform to take the material down.

If the content is not withdrawn, a court process could force a social media platform to provide details of the commenter.

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Global artificial intelligence (AI) software revenue is forecast to reach $62.5 billion in 2022, an increase of 21.3 per cent from 2021, according to Gartner.

The top five use cases for AI software spending in 2022 will be knowledge management, virtual assistants, autonomous vehicles, digital workplace and crowdsourced data.

“The AI software market is picking up speed, but its long-term trajectory will depend on enterprises advancing their AI maturity,” said Alys Woodward, senior research director at Gartner.

The AI software market encompasses applications with AI embedded in them, such as computer vision software, as well as software that is used to build AI systems.

“Successful AI business outcomes will depend on the careful selection of use cases,” said Woodward.

“Use cases that deliver significant business value, yet can be scaled to reduce risk, are critical to demonstrate the impact of AI investment to business stakeholders,” he added.

Demand for AI technologies and associated market growth is closely tied to organisational AI maturity levels.

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Swedish caller identification app Truecaller on Thursday rolled out its latest version 12 with a new Video Caller ID feature addition, call recording for free users, and a redesigned user interface (UI).

A total of five features have been announced as part of the Truecaller Version 12 update.

“Truecaller is a vital part of communication for over 22 crore Indians, for both their professional and personal needs. We are humbled by the level of trust people have shown in us but we are also driven by the goal of transforming communication,” Rishit Jhunjhunwala, Chief Product Officer and Managing Director, Truecaller India said in a statement.

Video Caller ID feature allows users to set a short video that plays automatically when they call friends and family. Users can choose from one of the built-in video templates or record their own video.

Another feature is Call Announce. Once enabled, the new optional feature will speak the caller ID for incoming phone calls out loud. This works for saved contacts as well as for numbers identified by Truecaller on both normal voice calls or Truecaller HD Voice calls.

Truecaller has further made available the Call Recording feature to its free users which will come in handy during professional scenarios for taking notes. One can listen to or delete recordings within Truecaller or by using a file browser. Recordings can also be shared easily using email, Bluetooth or any messaging service.

The update bring Ghost Call, with this Truecaller will let users set any name, number and photo to make it appear as if they are getting a call from that person. Users will also be able to choose a contact from their phonebook for the ghost call.

In addition, the updated Truecaller app also brings a streamlined interface where you will have separate tabs for calls and SMS messages. With separate tabs, one can now get to all of your SMS, Truecaller Group Chats and individual chats with just one tap.

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